What do Led Zeppelin, Quicksand, The Foo Fighters, and Death Cab for Cutie have in common? They all have had tremendous musical influence on Victory Records act Hawthorne Heights.
Hawthorne Heights, along with fellow rockers Mest, Bayside, and Punchline, will be rolling into the Sphere Entertainment Complex in Buffalo on Thursday.
"We listen to other music and just want to move people the way that music does," said Eron Bucciarelli, the drummer for Hawthorne Heights, during a phone interview.
The quintet from Dayton, Ohio, formed in June of 2001 and has tried to create a melting pot of various musical backgrounds on their debut album, "The Silence in Black and White," which was released earlier this year.
"Other bands have poppy parts or emo parts, but we can combine the two," Bucciarelli said of the group's layering ability.
On their debut album, they weave a musical web full of guttural and primal growls, romantically melodic vocals, dark and introspective lyrics, and multiple thrashing guitars.
"We always get lumped into the whole emo, screamo genre, and that's fine," Bucciarelli said. He was, however, quick to point out that which sets Hawthorne Heights apart from the pack.
"We have three guitars. It enables us to do a lot more musically. We can repeat what we do on the CD, live," Bucciarelli explained.
As far as songwriting is concerned, Bucciarelli mentioned that most of their lyrics deal with sentiment, heartache, missing people and being away from loved ones. These are not uncommon themes for a touring band to pursue. The notion of waiting for someone is brought up 11 separate times on "The Silence in Black and White."
Many bands would fall into the crack of matching their energy level to the mood of the lyrics, but Hawthorne Heights takes the opposite approach; their melancholy subject matter drives the music with an unexpected, forceful vigor.
"And I can't make it on my own because my heart is in Ohio/ So cut my wrists and black my eyes so I can fall asleep tonight or die because you kill me/ You know you do, you kill me well, you like it too, and I can tell you'll never stop until my final breath is gone," vocalist JT Woodruff sings on the single, "Ohio is for Lovers."
The vocabulary used on "The Silence in Black and White" successfully paints dreary pictures similar to those included on the liner notes. Words and phrases like "crushed," "dissolve and decay," "darkness of your thoughts," "static contact," "fade to black," "sharp side of the blade," "collapse," and "pitch black heart" create a dismal listening environment, but are animated by the raw vitality of the band's sound.
Since forming in 2001, Hawthorne Heights has gone through both name and lineup changes to refine their ideal sound full of edgy guitars and powerful vocals. They've toured with bands such as the Descendants, Coheed and Cambria and Silverstein. They are currently touring alongside Bayside, a group from Long Island, Mest from Chicago, and Punchline from Pittsburgh.
When asked where he hopes the music of Hawthorne Heights will take him, Bucciarelli replied with uncertainty.
"I don't know really, only time will tell," he said.
Hawthorne Heights play with Punchline, Mest and Bayside at The Sphere Entertainment Complex on Thursday, at 7 p.m. Punk act Mest is out touring before they tuck themselves into isolation for the recording of a new album. Punchline is currently promoting their latest alt-punk release, "Action," while Bayside is supporting their painfully honest "Sirens and Condolences," also released earlier this year.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
